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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Pony Macaroni

Had a super fabulous awesome time with Aspen today! To start the day off she saw me and then enthusiastically trotted over to me with this beautiful expression on her face! I put my Savvy String around her neck but she followed me across the pastures at Liberty all the way back to the arena. We played On-Line first and she was on the cusp of LBE/RBE nearly the whole time. The wind was blowing and every now and then she'd spook at something but was mostly a very enthusiastic LB partner! There were lots of rears and leaps and kicks and even some canter to me in the draws from our circle! Had a much improved expression on the
fig-8 and she's putting together how to carry herself nicely on the
circle. I've been bringing her in or letting her come down to a walk
each time she puts her head down a bit and/or tucks her nose in a little
and her posture and power are greatly improving. It's also turning our
circles into more of a game now! :) She's asking lots of question and is really putting effort into finding the right answer. Our circles have also improved in shape and we consistently have the belly of the rope on the ground!

Our ride was GREAT today, it was full of
relaxation and calmness, it was soft, and she was really listening to me
and incorporating her own ideas too. It's fun to see her look for what
answer I might want from her and it's rewarding to have her as a
partner not a robot when I ride! I am still so amazed at what a big
breakthrough we had a few afternoons ago regarding her head and neck
position. She's really found comfort in moving out with her head down
and her gaits are much smoother and easier to ride now. At the end of our play session
today I opened the arena gate to let her out into the pasture and she
wouldn't go. I encouraged her to go out and she did but turned right
around and came back in. I then sent her out again and she went about
20 feet in a half circle then came back again! So I walked out in the
pasture and she followed me for a while and then stood over me as I sat
in the grass. What a HUGE compliment from her. I can't even describe
how that made me feel! :) :)

The sweetest nose there ever was! :)

This after I sent Aspen out when our ride was over and she wanted to come back into the arena!

She made it about 20 feet before deciding she'd still rather hang out with me!